Continents | Home / Continents / Africa

Africa


Introduction

Africa is a continent that, with about 30,370,000 km2 (11,730,000 square miles) including adjacent islands, covers 6% of the Earth’s surface and 20% of the land surface. So is Africa the world’s second-largest continent (if we divide America in two continents).

With more than 1.3 billion inhabitants, Africa is the second most populous continent after Asia and, in other words, it represents 17.2% of the planet’s population in 2020. Most importantly, the African countries have the highest population growth on the planet

By 1914, with the rise of colonial empires, Africa had only two sovereign states, Abyssinia (or Ethiopia) and Liberia. Since World War II, the number of independent African states has grown steadily, from 4 in 1945 to 27 in 1960, reaching 53 in 1993 and finally 54 countries in 2011.

Geography

Physical map of Africa

Topographic map of Africa

Land cover map of Africa

Land cover map of Africa

Borders

Africa is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. In addition, Africa includes also Madagascar ant the following archipelagos: Comoros, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde and the Seychelles.

Area

30 370 000 km2 (11 730 000 sq mi) 

Explore and interact with our maps

Rivers in Africa

map of the major rivers of Africa

List of the major rivers of Africa with their length:

  1. Nile (6,650 km / 4,130 mi) 
  2. Congo (4,370 km / 2,720 mi)
  3. Niger (4,180 km / 2,600 mi)
  4. Zambezi (2,575 km / 1,600 mi)
  5. Orange (2,200 km / 1,400 mi)
  6. Senegal (1,750 km / 1075 mi)
  7. Okavango (1,700 km / 1,100 mi)
  8. Limpopo (1,700 km / 1,100 mi)
  9. Jubba (1,600 km / 1,000 mi)
  10. Volta (1,500 km (930 mi))

Population and settlement

Population from 1950 to 2020

CC BY

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019, Online Edition. Rev. 1.

Population 

1 340 598 113 (2020)

Density of population

36.4/km2 (94/sq mi)

make a map

Economy

GDP (PPP) (estimate 2019)

Total: $2.45 trillion

Per capita: $1 930

Natural Resources

map of natural resources in Africa
MaterialPercent of world productionCountries
Coal5%South Africa (99%)
Uranium16%Namibia (46%)
Niger (44%)
South Africa (< 10%)
Diamonds73%Botswana (35%)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (34%)
South Africa (17%)
Angola (8%)
Gold89%South Africa (56%)
Ghana (13%)
Tanzania (10%)
Mali (8%)
Copper5%Zambia (65%)
South Africa (15%)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (13%)
Bauxite9%Guinea (95%)
Ghana (5%)

Africa contain some of the world’s most substantial reserves of precious stones and metals. Therefore Africa has the largest mineral industries in the world. Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita. The table below represent the percent of the world production of Africa for various minerals.

African countries and capitals

Political map of Africa

Political map of Africa
Explore and interact with our maps
make a map

List of countries

flag of Algeria

Algeria

Capital: Algiers

Population: 43 600 000 (2020)

Area: 2 381 740 km2

flag of Angola

Angola

Capital: Luanda

Population: 31 127 674 (2020)

Area: 1 246 700 km2

flag of Benin

Benin

Capital: Porto-Novo

Population: 11 733 059 (2019)

Area: 112 622 km2

flag of Botswana

Botswana

Capital: Gaborone

Population: 2 254 068 (2018)

Area : 581 730 km2

Flag of Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso

Capital: Ouagadougou

Population: 21 510 181 (2020)

Area: 274 200 km2

Flag of Burundi

Burundi

Capital: Gitega

Population: 10 953 317 (2019)

Area: 27 830 km2

Flag of Cameroon

Cameroon

Capital: Yaoundé

Population: 26 545 864 (2020)

Area: 475 440 km2

Flag of Cape Verde (or Cabo Verde)

Cape Verde

Capital: Praia

Population: 543 767 (2018)

Area : 4 033 km2

Flag of Central African Republic

Central African Republic

Capital: Bangui

Population: 5 496 011 (2019)

Area: 622 984 km2

flag of Chad

Chad

Capital: N’Djamena

Population: 16 244 513 (2020)

Area: 1 284 000 km2

Flag of Comoros

Comoros

Capital: Moroni

Population: 873 724 (2019)

Area: 2 235 km2

flag of Congo

Congo

Capital: Brazzaville

Population: 5 244 359 (2018)

Area : 342 000 km2

flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Capital: Kinshasa

Population: 101 780 263 (2020)

Area: 2 344 858 km2

flag of Djibouti

Djibouti

Capital: Djibouti

Population: 1 078 373 (2019)

Area: 23 200 km2

flag of Egypt

Egypt

Capital: Cairo

Population: 100 075 480 (2020)

Area: 1 001 450 km2

flag of Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea

Capital: Malabo

Population: 1 308 975 (2018)

Area : 28 051 km2

flag of Eritrea

Eritrea

Capital: Asmara

Population: 6 081 196 (2020)

Area: 117 600 km2

flag of Eswatini (Swaziland)

Eswatini

Legislative and royal capital: Lobamba
Executive capital: Mbabane

Population: 1 136 281 (2018)

Area: 17 364 km2

flag of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Capital: Addis Ababa

Population: 109 224 414 (2018)

Area: 1 104 300 km2

flag of Gabon

Gabon

Capital: Libreville

Population: 2 119 275 (2018)

Area : 267 667 km2

flag of Gambia

Gambia

Capital: Banjul

Population: 2 173 999 (2020)

Area: 11 300 km2

flag of Ghana

Ghana

Capital: Accra

Population: 31 072 940 (2020)

Area: 238 533 km2

flag of Guinea

Guinea

Capital: Conakry

Population: 12 414 293 (2018)

Area: 245 857 km2

flag of Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau

Capital: Bissau

Population: 1 604 528 (2019)

Area : 36 125 km2

flag of Côte d'Ivoire

Ivory Coast

Legislative capital: Yamoussoukro
Administrative capital: Abidjan

Population: 26 378 274 (2020)

Area: 322 463 km2

flag of Kenya

Kenya

Capital: Nairobi

Population: 47 564 296 (2019)

Area: 580 367 km2

flag of Lesotho

Lesotho

Capital: Maseru

Population: 2 108 328 (2018)

Area: 30 355 km2

flag of Liberia

Liberia

Capital: Monrovia

Population: 5 073 296 (2015)

Area :111 369 km2

flag of Libya

Libya

Capital: Tripoli

Population: 6 871 287 (2018)

Area: 1 759 540 km2

flag of Madagascar

Madagascar

Capital: Antananarivo

Population: 26 262 313 (2018)

Area: 587 041 km2

flag of Malawi

Malawi

Capital: Lilongwe

Population: 19 129 952 (2020)

Area: 118 484 km2

flag of Mali

Mali

Capital: Bamako

Population: 20 250 833 (2020)

Area :1 240 192 km2

new flag of Mauritania

Mauritania

Capital: Nouakchott

Population: 4 077 347 (2019)

Area: 1 030 700 km2

flag of Mauritius

Mauritius

Capital: Port Louis

Population: 1 265 475 (2019)

Area: 2 040 km2

flag of Morocco

Morocco

Capital: Rabat

Population: 36 472 000 (2019)

Area: 446 550 km2

flag of Mozambique

Mozambique

Capital: Maputo

Population: 30 066 648 (2020)

Area :799 380 km2

flag of Namibia

Namibia

Capital: Windhoek

Population: 2 746 745 (2020)

Area:824 292 km2

flag of Niger

Niger

Capital: Niamey

Population: 22 442 831 (2018)

Area: 1 267 000 km2

flag of Nigeria

Nigeria

Capital: Abuja

Population: 206 630 269 (2020)

Area: 923 768 km2

flag of Rwanda

Rwanda

Capital: Kigali

Population: 12 374 397 (2019)

Area : 26 338 km2

flag of Sao Tome and Principe

São Tomé and Príncipe

Capital: Sao Tome

Population: 211 028 (2018)

Area:964 km2

flag of Senegal

Senegal

Capital: Dakar

Population: 15 854 323 (2018)

Area: 196 722 km2

flag of Seychelles

Seychelles

Capital: Victoria

Population: 97 096 (2018)

Area: 455 km2

flag of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Capital: Freetown

Population: 7 092 113 (2015)

Area : 71 740 km2

flag of Somalia

Somalia

Capital: Mogadishu

Population: 15 893 219 (2020)

Area: 637 657 km2

flag of South Africa

South Africa

Executive capital: Pretoria
Legislative capital: Cape Town
Judicial capital: Bloemfontein

Population: 58 775 022 (2019)

Area: 1 219 090 km2

flag of South Sudan

South Sudan

Capital: Juba

Population: 12 778 250 (2019)

Area: 644 329 km2

flag of Sudan

Sudan

Capital: Khartoum

Population: 41 592 539 (2019)

Area : 1 861 484 km2

flag of Tanzania

Tanzania

Capital: Dodoma

Population: 56 313 438 (2018)

Area: 947 300 km2

flag of Togo

Togo

Capital: Lomé

Population: 8 608 444 (2020)

Area: 56 785 km2

flag of Tunisia

Tunisia

Capital: Tunis

Population: 11 722 038 (2019)

Area: 163 610 km2

flag of Uganda

Uganda

Capital: Kampala

Population: 42 729 036 (2018)

Area : 241 038 km2

flag of Zambia

Zambia

Capital: Lusaka

Population: 17 351 708 (2018)

Area: 752 618 km2

flag of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Capital: Harare

Population: 15 159 624 (2019)

Area: 390 757 km2